Seton-La Salle girls' championship dominates 2012 headlines

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review News Service | For The South Hills Record - Seton La Salle's Angela Heintz, left photo, at left, and Emily Wahl hoist the championship trophy after winning the PIAA Class AA final March 23 at Penn State University. At right, Wahl hugs teammate Katherine following the Lady Rebels' convincing 71-47 win against York Catholic in the PIAA championship game.

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review News Service | For The South Hills Record - Seton La Salle's Emily Wahl hugs Katherine Hart after winning the PIAA Class AA state final Friday March 23, 2012 at Penn State University.

Randy Jarosz | For The South Hills Record - Chuck Correll, head coach of the Thomas Jefferson varsity tennis program, corralled his 500th career victory when the Jaguars defeated the Keystone Oaks boys' team on the road. In his distinguished tennis coaching career, Correll made stops at Keystone Oaks, Chartiers Valley and South Park prior to taking over at Thomas Jefferson, where he is in charge of both the boys' and girls' varsity teams.

Randy Jarosz | For The South Hills Record - Baldwin senior running back Dorian Brown eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in rushing for the second consecutive year, and ended his varsity career with 3,020 rushing yards and 36 touchdowns.

Jeff Healy | For The South Hills Record - Brentwood senior guard Jason Pilarski poured in 36 points in a 60-51 win against Valley in the first round of the Riverview holiday basketball tournament.

Baldwin's boys' swimming team wrapping up its most impressive regular season in recent memory.

“This is our most successful year,” Wendy Lutz, Baldwin's head coach, said. “We were able to compete against top 10 programs (in the WPIAL). We are on everyone's radar now.”

*****

Both the Baldwin boys' and girls' varsity bowling squads finished in the top 10 at the WPIBL team championships.

Both had advanced to the WPIBL championships as section titlists.

The Baldwin girls rolled through the 2011-12 season with an 8-0 section slate, and were 10-0 overall. The Baldwin boys tied for first with a 7-1 section record. The Highlanders were 9-1 overall.

*****

“We're going to have more than a couple guys riding down in a car. This year, I hope we need a bus,” said Thomas Jefferson head coach Rudy Nesbitt, prior to the Section 2-AAA wrestling tournament.

The Jaguars ended up having a bus-load of qualifiers, as nine of the team's 10 sectional competitors advanced to the WPIAL championships.

That was the most team members to advance from sectionals to the WPIAL championships in TJ wrestling history.

*****

St. Elizabeth's girls' varsity basketball team won the school's first section championship since 1983, defeating Our Lady of Grace, 37-30, to claim the Diocese of Pittsburgh South 2A section title.

MARCH

The Seton-La Salle girls' basketball team won its second consecutive WPIAL Class AA championship with a 73-60 decision against Bishop Canevin at Duquesne University's Palumbo Center.

*****

Baldwin senior Said Hasonovic was chosen to represent Allegheny County at 113 pounds against a Westmoreland County opponent in a postseason wrestling tournament held at Latrobe High School.

“He is the first Baldwin wrestler to be chosen for this prestigous event,” George McCormack, Baldwin's head coach, said.

*****

The Seton-La Salle girls' swim team completed its historic season, as the local squad finished with an undefeated 7-0 section record, and won a section title for the first time in its six-year history.

The Seton-La Salle Lady Rebels won the PIAA Class AA championship with a perfect 30-0 overall record — making them one of the greatest teams in the history of girls' high school basketball in the state.

“They deserved it. They worked hard for it,” Dennis Squeglia, the Lady Rebels' head coach, said.

APRIL

Thomas Jefferson's Chuck Correll earned his 500th career win as a tennis coach in a match at Keystone Oaks.

Correll came full circle, securing both his first and 500th victories at Keystone Oaks. He began his tennis coaching career 33 years ago with the Golden Eagles.

*****

Seton-La Salle graduate Gino Gradkowski, a 6-foot-4, 305-pound senior offensive lineman at the University of Delaware, was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth round of the NFL draft.

That is the highest any South Hills athlete has been selected in the NFL draft in recent memory.

Gradkowski joined his brother — former Seton-La Salle quarterback Bruce Gradkowski — in the NFL. Bruce is a backup QB with the Cincinnati Bengals.

*****

Baldwin High School coach Rich Wright was chosen to be inducted into the Pittsburgh Running Hall of Fame as a contributor to the sport.

Wright has been coaching track and cross country at Baldwin since 1992. He also is a member of the United States Streak Runners Association, having run at least one mile every day since Aug. 2, 1990.

MAY

Baldwin's Kuchta and Krista Kuss both reeled in a top achievement at the 39th annual Baldwin Invitational, sponsored by Brooks Sports and Elite Runner & Walkers.

Kuchta, a Bucknell University recruit, comfortably won the boys' 3,200-meter championship thanks to a season-best time of 9:17.56.

“Andrew just exploded on the seventh lap, then took off,” said Ed Helbig, Baldwin's head coach and Baldwin Invitational meet director. “He was just so determined. He ran a very smart race.”

Kuss, a senior and Loyola University recruit, placed second in the girls' 200-meter dash with a season-best 25.61 time.

“Krista really attacked the course,” Helbig said. “She came off the final bend very strong.”

Kuchta turned in one of the best races of his life at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships, winning the boys' 3,200-meter event with a career-best time of 9:10.36.

“Ever since losing in the WPIAL finals last year by less than a second, every move I've made in track has been influenced by that memory,” Kuchta said. “From my experience from all of my years running, I knew it was my last chance at a WPIAL championship, so I definitely poured my heart and soul into that race.”

Kuchta, Kuss, who placed fourth in the WPIAL girls' 200-meter dash, and Baldwin sophomore Luke Smorey, who took third place in the boys' javelin event, advanced to the PIAA Class AAA championships held at Shippensburg University.

*****

The Baldwin girls' varsity lacrosse team qualified for its first-ever WPIAL playoff game as the No. 7 seed in Division II, but lost to No. 1-seed North Hills, 13-9.

“It was a close game. It was tied at half,” Rich Deemer, Baldwin's head coach, said. “We got a lead by taking them away from their usual style of play.”

Two other seniors — Spencer Hubsch and Abby Stubenbort — were the male and female scholar-athlete award winners.

JUNE

Kelly Kovach Schoenly, a 1991 Baldwin graduate, was inducted into the WPIAL hall of fame at the DoubleTree Hotel in Green Tree.

Kovach Schoenly, head coach of the Miami (Ohio) University softball program, made a name for herself in three sports during her storied Baldwin athletic career. She was a four-year letterwinner in both softball and basketball, and a three-year letterwinner in volleyball.

Kovach Schoenly dominated the high school scene as a softball pitcher. She compiled a 53-5 overall record with an 0.48 ERA. She also finished with a .463 career batting average from 1988 to 1991.

Kovach Schoenly's stellar pitching led Baldwin to three consecutive WPIAL softball titles. She also was a member of Baldwin volleyball teams that won two WPIAL and PIAA championships.

“I have such great memories of Pittsburgh. Any way that I can be reconnected with Pittsburgh is a great honor for me,” Kovach Schoenly said.

*****

Seton-La Salle's Josh Kurz was named WPIAL Division II boys' coach of the year by U.S. Lacrosse.

Four members of the Lady Rebels' program — Annie Rodgers, Helena Shoplik, Nicole Nath and Cecilia Bashaw — were lauded as U.S. Lacrosse Academic All-Americans. Rodgers also was an all-section selection.

Baldwin's Alexa Stahl was honored as an All-WPIAL and all-section player.

Mitruski retired after 33 years at the helm. He planned to spend his free time at the golf course, and behind the wheel of his Corvette.

Assistants Clarence “Butch” Adams and Jill Startari joined Mitruski in retirement. The trio had 73 combined years of coaching in the TJ softball program.

*****

Thomas Jefferson senior Greg Schneider was named the 2012 Daily News and 2012 MSA Sports Network baseball player of the year.

Schneider, a University of Pittsburgh recruit, went 9-2 with one save. His only no-decision came after he threw nine shutout innings in a WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinals playoff game against Hampton.

“He had a truly amazing season; his numbers were Play Station numbers,” Rich Krivanek, the Jaguars' head coach, said. “Now that the season is over and we can reflect on what he did, it really is am-azing when you see it in black and white. He definitely deserves this honor.”

A right-handed senior pitcher/outfielder, Schneider compiled a 0.43 earned run average and had 140 strikeouts in 82 1⁄3 innings.

He also hit .514 with eight doubles, six triples, four homers and 30 RBI.

*****

Thomas Jefferson's varsity baseball team qualified for the state playoffs for the first time in school history.

The local club, which won its first outright section championship in more than 20 years, finished 17-6 overall, and advanced to the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals and the PIAA quarterfinals.

*****

Tyler Green of Baldwin capped his senior year with two impressive postseason accolades in boys' volleyball.

Green, a libero, was named All-WPIAL third-team in Class AAA, and also was a first-team all-section selection.

“Tyler has been a great player for Baldwin. He is a tremendous student of the game, and plays it with a passion,” Eric Falcione, Baldwin's head coach, said.

“He has been the backbone of our defense for the past three years. He has great instincts at his position.”

Members of the team agreed it was a once-in-a-lifetime baseball experience.

“It was even better than I thought it would be,” Jay Monroe, the Prospects manager, said.

JULY

He did it again.

Jeff Weiss won the Brentwood Firecracker 5K Run for a third consecutive year, posting a pace-setting time of 15:12 in the annual Fourth of July event.

Leah Ahlin, competing in the local 5K race for the first time, earned first place in the female division.

*****

Seton-La Salle finished third in Class AA in the MSA Sports Cup final standings for 2011-12.

The MSA Sports Cup ranks WPIAL sports programs by classification during a school year. Points are earned for the success of each team in the fall, winter and spring seasons.

AUGUST

Jack Butler, former Steelers cornerback and patriarch of the local Hobart family, was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

*****

Katie Barker-Collins, a Baldwin High School product, was selected for the California University of Pennsylvania's 18th athletic hall of fame class.

Barker-Collins was an outside hitter for the women's volleyball team from 2002 to 2005. She finished her career as the program's all-time career leader in kills (1,895) and digs (1,821), and was a three-time all-region selection.

SEPTEMBER

The Baldwin-Whitehall Youth Football Association celebrated its 40th anniversary this season.

*****

Thomas Jefferson senior wideout Zach Schademan shattered a team record with five touchdown receptions — all in the first half — in the Jaguars' 40-7 conference victory against Trinity.

Senior quarterback Joe Carroll eclipsed the team record for touchdown passes in one game with six scoring strikes.

“Joe has been great so far, as I expected he would be,” Bill Cherpak, TJ's head coach, said. “He has great receivers to throw to ... obviously, Zach has been our go-to guy.”

*****

Brian Dawson, former Thomas Jefferson football standout, was inducted into the Washington & Jefferson College athletic hall of fame.

Dawson, a teacher and assistant coach at TJ, rewrote the W&J football record books as the Presidents' starting quarterback from 1999 to 2002.

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